Left and right speaker pairs - is this a thing?

[tuga]

Hi-Fi News measures both speakers and reports on the pair matching accuracy:

 

[restorer-john]

My little Dali Zensor 1s sitting in my speaker wall have L and R suffixes on their respective serial numbers.

 

[Ultrasonic]

My little Dali Zensor 1s sitting in my speaker wall have L and R suffixes on their respective serial numbers.

Are the serial numbers the same, sequential, or something else?

 

[KMO]

My little Dali Zensor 1s sitting in my speaker wall have L and R suffixes on their respective serial numbers.

If you're making matched pairs, then just "L" and "R" are going to be the most obvious way to indicate the pair relationship. The L and R are likely arbitrary though.

There may also be a packing asymmetry - maybe the accessories always go in the "L" box, for example.

 

[tuga]

I think I've seen speaker pairs with the same serial number on both speakers but I can't recall which. Which one is left and right is moot, unless the tweeter's off centre (e.g. ProAc) or the speaker cabinets are asymmetric (e.g. Larsen, Dali Megaline, Apogee, etc.)

 

[KMO]

I think I've seen speaker pairs with the same serial number on both speakers but I can't recall which.

When KEF pair-match, the numbers look like BBA012345N02LAG and BBA012345N02RAG, so matching apart from the LR.

Non-paired speakers have a N in the same position.

(Observed from a limited number of speakers. The N02 bit appears to be year+week - that would be week 2 of 2021).

 

[antcollinet]

Just sent this. I admit I have low expectations from a twitter account, but let's see what happens.

 

[Chromatischism]

Sorry - should have said quality of the imaging. Obviously any left/right bias would follow the speaker, if they were not level matched.

My fundamental point above. The speakers are sold with left right markings, and the instructions are to place them as marked for the best imaging. The reason for that cannot be frequency response. It would only make sense if there was a mirrored asymmetric left right radiation pattern (Which could result from non aligned mechanics as shown in some of the examples above, or (eg) a side facing tweeter). However the Oberons, at least visually, are mechanically symmetric.

I suspect the real reason is internal to Dali - such as tracking speakers through the production process, or managing after sales service etc. Or perhaps they use it for grain matching on the higher end speakrs, and is then used for the entry level vinyl wrapped models for process consistency.

Sorry, I guess I misunderstood - when you talked about matching pairs, that is for frequency response, which is how I responded. Quite a few companies do that.

Speakers marked as being specific to left and right is something else. I don't know why that would be necessary.

 

[antcollinet]

Sorry, I guess I misunderstood - when you talked about matching pairs, that is for frequency response, which is how I responded. Quite a few companies do that.

Speakers marked as being specific to left and right is something else. I don't know why that would be necessary.

No apology needed - my OP wasn't as clear as it should have been.

 

[antcollinet]

What specifically does it say? Your quote above only talks about them being a matched pair.

Yep - agreed, OP could have been clearer, sorry.

In order to create the best possible stereo image, DALI loudspeakers are designed in matching pairs. Left and Right are clearly marked on both packings and the rear of the loudspeakers.
Place the Left and Right speakers to the left and right as seen from the listening position.

From here:
https://www.dali-speakers.com/uk/sound-academy/tips-tricks/unpacking/

 

[Asinus]

They can handpick two samples that are matched closer to each other than to the manufacturing tolerances. For instance on the production line they stamp OK transducers that are within 0.5 dB of the golden sample, but they could handpick and use two transducers that are within 0.1 dB of each other. If they have a good process basically any pair of the same batch should be good to go, but mixing and matching between different production runs could get you mismatches that are still within tolerance but further apart.

 

[antcollinet]

That is still FR or perhaps you mean overall gain - left and right positioning is irrelevant for that.

 

[Ultrasonic]

That is still FR or perhaps you mean overall gain - left and right positioning is irrelevant for that.

I think everyone agrees on this point, other that for asymmetric driver layouts of course. As others have said I think the L and R bits are just labels, like serial numbers.

 

[Rip City Dave]

Maggies come mirror imaged. Placement depends on if you like the tweeter on the outside or the inside. So I guess that means there is no true right or left.

 

[Gyosa1]

On Salk speakers that use the RAAL tweeters , they’re offset, so yes , left and right.

bk

 

[mykeldg]

My Dali Rubicon 2s have L/R labelled at each speaker. Dali website also recommends following the respective labels.

I tried experimenting swapping the 2 speakers to see if could get an audible difference.

Funny enough, I did and preferred the sound of the L/R in the wrong orientation (left on the right and vice versa). In the correct orientation, it has a more center focus and a bit sharper. Reversing seems like it is more diffused and less sharp which -- dare I say -- sounds more mellow/warm - this played to my tastes more.

This is very subjective and I didn't measure anything to validate my observations.